St. Jerome, the famous saint who both worked for a better knowledge of the Bible, in his commentary on Letter to the Galatians, the Apostle John tells us that, as much old, had to take the back for a pupil to be able to participate in liturgical assemblies. Had no condition to do the homily and was limited to say the simple words:
– Little children, love one another.
One day, the brothers, tired of hearing the same words, they decided to ask him why he kept repeating them. John replied:
– Because this is the commandment of the Lord and was the only one to be fulfilled would be enough!
Also we hear in the gospel this Sunday, the well-known words of Jesus: “Love one another”. What seems repetitive, in fact, is always the biggest challenge for us Christians. I say this not only because of true love is not so simple, banal and spontaneous, as sometimes thought, but also because Jesus asks us to love as he loved us and thus, this brotherly love becomes the visible sign of being or not his disciples.
To understand the love of Jesus not just remember his death on the cross. He spoke and acted all his life with love and for love. The Gospels were written to help us understand and believe that Jesus was making us know the way to love God. A loving father has compassion on his children, welcomes them and forgives them. A Father points the way to the children and is the first to go this route. Jesus taught that not only has greater love than he who lays down his life for his friends, he loved everyone until the end, until the enemies whom he forgave on the cross. All gestures, signs, or “miracles” – if one prefers, Jesus manifested a man able to understand the sufferings of others, to stand alongside those who suffer in life. With that he taught us that God is always with us and never abandons us, also respects our freedom to the point that it can be rejected and betrayed. Celebrating the Eucharist the early Christians not only obeyed the command of Jesus to repeat the gesture in his memory; knew well could continue to recognize, find and experience the unfailing love of God.
Consequently, the disciples of Jesus before forming something visible, more or less organized, a fraternal community should be able to continue to communicate what he taught, not by words or sweeping eloquent speeches, but with the experience what is being preached. It was the example of the first communities, the courage of the martyrs, the fidelity of the little that Jesus’ message spread and came to us.
We can not have no doubt that the commandment of love that Jesus left us will always be current and decisive for the growth of their communities. Every era creates new forms of selfishness. Beside the thirst for power and wealth of the powerful – that has always existed and that also infects the poor – today we recognize the pursuit of individual well-being, the indifference to social problems and the trap of consumption, some new situations that exalt defending its own privileges and thus lead to forgetfulness of the common good and the inability to find new ways of justice and peace.
our communities, our groups and movements should glow in brotherly love and the joyful reception of arrivals. In fact, each generation is proposed the message of faith, but this without the experience of love, is in danger of being reduced to a more or less understandable truths. Whenever we need someone we repeat, without fail, that we should love one another as Jesus loved us. Without it we would be unrecognizable, but if we practice only that we would be fulfilling our mission.
–
D. Peter Bishop Joseph Conti
Macapa
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